


straight through the smoke

by EchoBleu



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Death penalty, Emotional Hurt, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Malec Secret Santa, No Character Death, Post Season 2 Breakup, The Clave (Shadowhunter Chronicles), The Clave is bad, Well Valentine dies, but off screen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:48:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28047945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EchoBleu/pseuds/EchoBleu
Summary: After Magnus breaks up with Alec and chooses to align with the Seelie Queen, pulling the Downworld Cabinet with him, Alec is arrested by the Clave for high treason. Will Magnus find out in time to save him from a death sentence?
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Comments: 132
Kudos: 423
Collections: Fluff vs. Angst Battle 2020, The Malec Secret Santa - Edition 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dogmissel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dogmissel/gifts).



> This is my gift to [Dogmissel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dogmissel) for the 2020 Malec Secret Santa Event! The plot bunny got away from me, so there will be three chapters.
> 
> [CW: death penalty (but no one dies), mentions of self-harm]

At the knock at his door, Magnus puts Madzie down on the ground, letting her run to Catarina. She’s been nervous, not quite understanding what’s going on, and she keeps randomly running up to them to hug them. The other warlocks are upstairs on the roof, in a meditative state to maintain the new wards over New York, while Magnus and his best friend stand ready to move the loft and its inhabitants to the Seelie Realm, if worst comes to worst.

He steels himself before opening the door. It’s the middle of the day, so it can’t be Raphael – Magnus just realizes now that he left him in the Institute on his own earlier this morning – and Luke texted him just a few minutes ago that he was still out on patrol. The Seelie Queen is back in her realm with her henchmen. That means that it can only be Shadowhunters.

Alec.

Magnus isn’t ready to deal with him. He’s not sure he’ll ever be ready. Alec lying to him  about the Soul Sword , about something that affects  Magnus so directly, the safety of his  _people_ , isn’t something that Magnus can forgive easily. He understands why  Alec did it , and he thinks that with time, he could come to trust Alec again, but  he can’t start thinking about it until all of this is over.

And yet he can’t help but worry. Alec is out there, with his siblings and Clary, other people Magnus has come to care for, facing against two monsters. Valentine has proved more than dangerous, and with Jonathan’s help, he may well be unbeatable.

Magnus made the choice to leave them on their own. He chose his people over Alec, and while he would do it again, while he _had_ to do it, the guilt is still eating at him.

He doesn’t know if he feels more hurt or guilty, right now. He feels crushed, more than anything else. He struggles to focus, his thoughts permanently turning back toward Alec. The current stillness, since his warlocks raised the wards, feels like the quiet before the storm, and it has left him with too much time to think.

“What do you—” Magnus starts, opening the door with more force than necessary, but it’s not Alec behind it. 

It’s Clary.

“Magnus!” she exclaims as soon as he sees her. She looks twitchy and out of sorts, looking around her before she walks into the loft, almost stepping on Magnus’ feet.

“Biscuit,” Magnus says, forcing his voice to stay cold. He’s too fond of her to be angry, but he really doesn’t want to deal with her right now.

Except that she really seems scared.

“I know I shouldn’t be here,” she says, waving her arms around nervously. “But I had to come.”

Magnus frowns in concern and gently guides her to the living room. Catarina stands up in alarm, while Madzie only looks up from the drawing she’s resumed for a second, unconcerned.  Clary, with her small size and her nervousness, doesn’t make a threatening figure. Magnus discretely builds a bubble of silence around  Madzie to muffle the sound of their conversations,  so she doesn’t hear anything not meant for her little ears .

“Magnus?” Catarina asks suspiciously.

“Biscuit, tell me what’s wrong,” Magnus commands, making Clary sit down in the blue armchair. He waves at Catarina not to worry, but she still goes to stand closer to Madzie, straightening in a defensive posture.

Clary doesn’t even seem to notice. “ The Clave took full control of the Institute,” she says. “They...they just stormed in and declared it. They said that the New York Downworld had violated the Accords and—” she trails off, too agitated to speak.

“And what?” Magnus prompts. He feels a leaden weight of anticipation in his stomach. This isn’t good.

“They said that the Downworld Cabinet facilitated it. That Alec—” she meets Magnus’ eyes, panicked. “That Alec colluded with you and betrayed the Clave. Magnus, they’ve arrested him for high treason.”

“What?” Magnus lets out before he can even control his mouth. It feels like a punch to his gut. In all the scenarios he went through, even the darkest ones where Alec got hurt or died by Valentine’s hands, Magnus’ fears were always about the divide between them. Between the Clave and the Seelie Queen, between the Nephilim and the Downworld. Between him and Alec. He never, ever imagined Alec being rejected by his own people.

“They said things about your relationship being unnatural and contaminating the whole Institute,” Clary says sadly. “That it should never have been allowed, that he was a disgrace to all Nephilim.”

Magnus swallows hard. He’s heard these words about himself, of course. He knows how the Clave sees him – barely with any more regard than Valentine himself does. The Circle has never been a true extremist group, not when too many people in power in Alicante agree with them. But to hear this about Alec, for the heinous crime of loving him?

“Where is he now?” he asks.

“In one of the basement cells, I think,” Clary says. “They put all of us on house arrest pending investigation. That means we’re confined to our rooms, essentially. I used a portal rune to come here.”

“If they find out you’re gone—” Magnus starts.

Clary bites her lip.  “I know. But I had to do  _something_ . I heard them talking. They’ve called off the search for Valentine, and they’re putting Alec on trial  _today._ ”

Even Catarina looks shocked at that. Magnus sits down brutally, his legs no longer supporting him.  He curses under his breath, if only to let out some of the unbearable tension.

“The Clave’s penalty for high treason…” he mutters.

“Is deruning, or death,” Catarina completes for him. “Magnus—”

“It wasn’t supposed to be like that,” Magnus breathes out. “I had to—I had to keep my people safe, Alec understands that—but he’s a Nephilim, he’s supposed to be safe—” He puts his face in his hands.

“Magnus,” Clary calls softly. Magnus looks up, feeling like he’s being crushed by a weight larger than him. “Before they took him away, Alec told us not to contact you. That you couldn’t do anything.”

A gainst his will, Magnus lets out a noise that sounds too much like a whimper, struggling to breathe around the knot in his throat. He bites down on his fist, trying to calm himself  down .

Even facing his own downfall, Alec would think of him first.

“Then why did you come?” Catarina asks Clary, coolly. She has no lost love for Shadowhunters, and she doesn’t know Clary at all. She knows Alec, though, and she knows how much Magnus loves him.

“Because there has to be _something_ that we can do, and Magnus is the most likely to come up with an idea. We can’t let this happen!”

“This is the Clave we’re talking about,” Catarina says. “It’s not about _letting_ it happen. They do what they decide to do, and they have full authority on their soldiers.”

“Magnus, you defended Izzy last year,” Clary says, turning back to Magnus. “Can’t you do it again?”

Magnus shake his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. “She barely got free, and only because you had the cup as leverage. And her crime was nothing, compared to this. The Clave is corrupt from top to bottom, Alec won’t be freed by legal means.”

“Then what do we do?” Clary asks.

“Nothing,” Catarina says firmly. Magnus looks up at her, and he can see the compassion in her eyes, but she stands her ground. “There’s nothing we _can_ do. Any move against the Clave will be a declaration of war.”

Magnus stands up and starts pacing along the bay windows. “I think we’re past that point,” he says. “We’re already at war. They’re accusing Alec of complicity in a violation of the Accords, for the sole crime of his relationship with me. They’re not trying to arrest Valentine anymore. I think we have to assume that the Circle and the Clave are working together.”

“And you want to do what?” Catarina shits her stance, putting her hands on her hips. “Storm the Institute? Go head-to-head against the entire Clave? Magnus, you have our people to think about. They’re not going to risk their lives to get Alec back. I know you love him, but is he really worth risking all of them?” she points up toward the roof.

Magnus runs a hand down his face. “I already chose them, _you_ , over him once. I broke up with him because I thought I had to choose between being with him, and the safety of my people.” He pauses. “But that was when I thought he would be safe. This is different.”

Clary wrings her hands, looking between them.

“You’re going to put us all in danger,” Catarina says, looking at Madzie, who is still drawing quietly, oblivious to her surroundings in the way only children can be. She can’t hear them, but Magnus still watches her for a moment to make sure that she’s okay.

“No,” he says. “I’m going to get Alec out of there, but I’m going alone. You’re staying here to keep the wards up and prepare to move to the Seelie Realm.”

“The Institute’s wards have been raised against all Downworlders,” Clary warns. “My portal can probably get you in, but—”

“You forget that I am the one who built these wards,” Magnus interrupts her. “I can get through them. I can deactivate them entirely, if I need to. And no Shadowhunter can get in or out of New York right now.”

“Magnus—” Catarina starts, but Magnus glares at her before she tries to convince him not to go. His decision is already made – nothing will stop him from saving Alec’s life. Not now.

She raises her hand in surrender. “Be careful. Come back to us.”

“I will,” Magnus says. “ _We_ will.”

*

Clary’s portal brings Magnus straight to Isabelle’s bedroom, and she steps back out to collect Jace from his own. Isabelle’s red-rimmed eyes widen when she sees Magnus and she saunters up to hug him, but she hesitates at the last moment, letting her arms fall back to her sides.

“Magnus,” she murmurs.

Magnus draws her into a hug. “Biscuit told me what happened,” he says.

“I didn’t know if you’d come,” she whispers brokenly.

Magnus closes his eyes in dismay. “We broke up, but it doesn’t mean I stopped caring.”

“This morning—”

“I was angry, and I was trying to convince myself that I’d made the right decision,” Magnus explains. He’s ashamed of how he behaved at the Cabinet meeting, pretending like he barely knew them, letting the Queen speak for him. He won’t forget Alec’s lost and hurt look any time soon.

Jace and Clary come back at that moment. Isabelle gently pushes Magnus back and steps out of the hug, and Jace sends Magnus a furious glare.

“Calm down,” Magnus says. “I’m here to help.”

“Is that what you call it? Allying with the Seelie Queen? Raising wards around the city that _kill_ any Shadowhunter who tries to leave? _Leaving Alec behind_?”

“I did what I had to do,” Magnus defends himself coldly. “Alec lied to me. Your people will see mine exterminated without so much as a blink.” He takes a breath to calm himself. “Alexander wasn’t supposed to be arrested. If you want my opinion, you should blame your grandmother. _Your_ Clave.”

Jace almost lunges at him, but Clary holds him back with a hand around his waist. He glares at Magnus some more instead, then turns his back to them and goes to stand by the window.

“You have no idea how he’s been, the past few days, do you?” he says quietly. “When the Inquisitor arrived, he was training. Hand-to-hand, five on one. He refused to use iratzes between fights.”

Magnus takes in a breath. He’s known of Alec’s self-harming tendencies since the beginning of their relationship – how could he not? – but Alec hasn’t had to resort to something this bad in a while.

“Jace, that’s enough,” Isabelle says, just as quietly. “Magnus isn’t responsible for that. Alec’s had a rough year. We all have.”

Jace deflates. He’s absently massaging his parabatai rune with one hand, the other playing with a loose thread on his sleeve. “You’re right,” he says. “It’s been...a lot. And now this.”

“Magnus, I need you to know that—” Isabelle hesitates, biting her lip. “I know why you broke up with Alec, and I get it. He’s heartbroken, but he wants you safe first and foremost. He loves you more than anything.”

“Isabelle, what are you trying to tell me?” Magnus asks, guilt churning in his gut. He doesn’t have the patience for this, not right now.

Isabelle shift from foot to foot, uncomfortable. “Before they arrested him, they gave him the opportunity to renounce you. If he told them your plans and made a public announcement disavowing you and the Cabinet, they would have let him go free and even keep his job. He refused. He didn’t even hesitate.”

Magnus shuts his eyes tightly, his head pounding. “Alexander,” he murmurs in dismay.

Self-sacrificing to a fault. Even when Magnus broke up with him, made it clear that their relationship was over, Alec wouldn’t save his own skin. “He could have done it, bought us time,” Magnus mutters, opening his eyes again. “He had to know that we wouldn’t believe it.”

Isabelle shakes her head. “That’s not Alec. He’ll die for what he believes in. And you’re everything to him. Not just you, but the Cabinet too, everything he’s accomplished to make us better.”

“He once told me that his family was everything to him,” Magnus sighs.

“And you’ve become part of it,” Isabelle says. “It doesn’t matter that you’re not together right now. You’re family.” She puts a hand on Magnus’ shoulder. “That’s why we’re going to get him out. As a family.”

There’s a knock at the door.

“Shit,” Isabelle mutters. “Stay out of sight.” She stands up and, in one smooth move, removes her dress.

“What are you doing?” Jace hisses.

Magnus doesn’t bother averting his eyes. Neither he nor Isabelle are shy when it comes to nudity, and besides, she’s still in her underwear. “Buying us time,” she whispers.

She opens the door brusquely. “What?” she asks, annoyed.

“Whoa,” Magnus hears Raj’s voice. His blood boils. He has no lost love for this Shadowhunter, and if he’s working with the people trying to harm Alec— “What are you doing in here?”

“Changing,” Isabelle rolls her eyes.

“We’re supposed to escort you to the ceremony room,” Raj says. His voice isn’t as assured as it usually is. “The trial is about to start.”

Isabelle closes her eyes. “Already? Raj, what the fuck is going on out there?”

Raj sighs. “I don’t know. They said the warlocks raised wards around the city. We can’t get in or out. They’re expediting the trial, they want to have it done as soon as possible.”

Isabelle clasps a hand over her mouth. “Fuck,” she mutters. “Raj, you know he didn’t betray anyone, right?” She sounds small and vulnerable, and Magnus can’t tell how much of that is an act.

“I don’t like Bane, but Alec’s a good leader,” Raj says. “He doesn’t deserve this. But we can’t do anything. Come on, I have orders. We still have to get Jace and Clary.”

Isabelle runs a hand through her hair. “Give me a minute to get dressed?”

“Okay,” Raj grumbles. “But hurry up.”

Isabelle shuts the door firmly and turns back to Magnus and the others, her panic obvious on her face. “It’s too soon,” she whispers. “This can’t be happening.”

“We can’t get him out now,” Jace says. “There will be too many people. Even you can’t fight several hundreds Shadowhunters,” he adds to Magnus.

“How many of them are loyal to Alec?” Magnus asks, a plan starting to form in his head.

I sabelle bites her lip. “Enough to go against the Clave? I don’t know. Alec is well-liked, but we’re trained to respond to commands. It will be hard to go against direct orders, and many won’t be willing to risk their lives.”  She steps back into her dress, quickly pulling it over her body.

“Even if the Inquisitor condemns him for something they know he didn’t do?” Magnus asks.

Jace takes a breath. “Alec is their Head. I’m the Inquisitor’s grandson. If we can show them another path, a clear way for them to follow us without too much danger…”

Isabelle’s eyes light up. “Since Alec became Head, we’ve had a lot of Shadowhunters requesting to be assigned to the Institute because they’re unsatisfied with the Clave, for a variety of reasons.  Most of them will see that this whole trial is a sham.  And even an expedited trial will take days, days we can spend convincing them. If we time it right, I’d say we can get...maybe a third of them to help.”

“If we time it right?” Clary repeats.

“If they sentence Alec to death,” Magnus understands in a breath. “It has to be last resort. If I can just get Alec out—”

“They’ll chase you wherever you go, and it will paint you in the worst light,” Jace says. “If they can claim that you kidnapped him, it will be an all-out war.”

B efore Magnus can answer, Raj pounds on the door. “Isabelle, we have to go!”

Isabelle wrings her hands in anguish and turns to Clary. “Get yourself and Jace back to your rooms before they can see you’re gone.  Magnus, can you glamour yourself invisible?”

“Yes,” Magnus nods. “I have to make some calls first, secure us the support of the Downworld. I doubt the Seelie Queen will help, but Luke and Raphael will. They only agreed to this deal with the Seelie Queen because I did.”

J ace’s face contorts in anger briefly, but he doesn’t say anything. This isn’t the time. Clary draws her portal rune in the air. “Go,” Isabelle says. “I’ll see you in a minute.”

Magnus snaps his fingers to call his magic to his hand, ready for the glamour. “When you get there, start passing the word. Be discreet. I’ll handle Alec.”

As Jace and Clary walk through the portal, Isabelle gives Magnus a long look. “You saved me from being deruned once, Magnus, because Alec asked you to. I know you still love him. Can we count on you?”

“If you couldn’t, I wouldn’t be here,” Magnus says coolly.

It seems to convince her. “Then let’s do this.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's up the angst meter a bit, shall we?
> 
> Huge thanks to Em for betaing (and making me die with laughter).

Alec waits.

The cell is lit with violent neon tubes that hurt  his eyes every time he opens them. The bench he’s sitting cross-legged on is hard, and he can’t find a comfortable position with his hands locked in front of him in heavy, runed cuffs. Guards from Idris – not Alec’s own people – watch his every move through the large, glass wall, and he wants to squirm under their gazes.

It’s all made to be as uncomfortable as possible. Alec knows that. He was thirteen when they last renovated the underground levels and his mother and Hodge came up with the glass cells, instead of the prison-like cells they had before.

And now he’s locked inside his own Institute’s cell, awaiting trial for crimes he didn’t commit.

By his estimate, it’s been about four hours. The Clave guards took his watch on top of his stele, so he has no way to tell the time except for his internal clock. He’s been turning things in his head over and over, trying to find a way out of this.

Magnus choosing to ally with the Seelie Queen hurt more than it should have – Alec feels like he should have expected it. Magnus is doing what is right for his people, and Alec’s own feelings about it don’t ma t ter. Working with the Shadowhunters,  _being with Alec,_ has only brought him and his loved ones pain and heartbreak, and Alec lying to him about the Soul Sword was  just the last straw.  Alec can’t forget the pain in Magnus’ eyes after he tied him up in Valentine’s body, in this very cell. His grief when he opened up about losing Ragnor, his oldest friend, because of Shadowhunter involvement. Every hurt, every trauma of the  p ast few months, all because of his relationship with Alec.  His anger is justified, and however much it hurt when he gave Alec the cold shoulder this morning, Alec understands.

The Clave’s arrival in force, two hours later – and less than a minute before Alec got a text from Luke that wards were going up around the city – was unexpected. The Inquisitor’s presence told Alec immediately that it was bad news, but getting handcuffed and read his rights in the middle of the ops center, in front of dozens of his own people, isn’t how Alec expected his day would go.

High treason. That’s what they’re calling it, the heinous crime of loving a warlock. They’ll wrap it up in a convincing package, but that’s what it boils down to. Alec has become a monster in the eyes of the Clave  because he dared to fall in love with a Downworlder, and to want Downworlders to be treated as equals to the Nephilim. 

They’ve resisted his advances from the start, the very idea of a Downworld Cabinet,  but Alec never expected it to go this far. Especially in the middle of the Valentine debacle. If this gets back to Magnus’ ears – and if Alec is deruned or executed, it will, there is no doubt about it – what will he do?

If the word gets out before his sentencing, will Magnus come for Alec? Is Alec worth it in his eyes, worth risking his people?

Alec already knows the answer to that. Magnus made it clear, the other day, and again this morning. He’s not worth it.

Besides,  the Clave’s numbers are too great. Here in the Institute, there is no way out. I f  Magnus tries to free him, he’ll get arreste d and executed  too , if he’s not killed in battle first. Or he’ll start a war that neither side can afford.

And if he doesn’t come…

As selfish and horrible as it is,  Alec doesn’t think he can  handle knowing that Magnus  knew, that he could have come , and chose not to. No, it’s better if Magnus  remains ignorant and safe in his loft, or in the Seelie Realm, or wherever he is now, taking care of his people. Alec can only hope that he’ll escape the Clave’s wrath.

He looks up when the elevator opens and  reveals two Shadowhunters he doesn’t know, framing Jens, his second-in-command. Or his former second-in-command now, Alec supposes.  Jens takes out his stele to open the door of the cell on the side, then steps back to let the other two through. Alec meets his eyes as they roughly  manhandle him  in to stand ing up and check his cuffs. Jens bows his head apologetically, clasping his hands behind his back –  _I didn’t find any way around this. I’m sorry._

Alec nods back. _It’s okay. Just do as they ask._ “Will you at least tell me where you’re taking me?” he asks as the men lead him out of the cell.

“Your trial is starting, Lightwood,” one of them answers.

“Shouldn’t there be an investigation first?”

The man shrugs, unconcerned. “The Inquisitor says she has a fool-proof case against you. You’ve had it coming for a while, Lightwood. You’re done.”

Alec swallows. This is going too fast, none of it makes sense. Why do this now, when the search for Valentine should be taking all of their resources?

He’s led to the ceremony room, where Max received his first rune just a few months ago.  A sweep of the room tells him that the Inquisitor recalled nearly every single Shadowhunter to the Institute. They’re standing in close ranks, whispering among st themselves. Alec forces himself to  hold his head  up  high  as he’s led to the  platform at the front of the room,  even as he feels the stares burning into his back.

Imogen Herondale sits in a straight-backed armchair facing the audience, with two Clave officials on each side. Alec doesn’t know any of them. His guards lead him to a simple wooden chair to the side,  beside which Alec awkwardly  stands,  his hands still cuffed in front of him,  the two Shadowhunters staying one step behind him .

Jace,  Izzy and Clary are  standing at attention in the first rank. Well, Jace and Izzy are, because Clary still hasn’t perfected her posture. Alec makes a note to talk to her about it, before he remembers that there’s little point to it. 

H is parabatai bound pulses gently with  _worryfearcomfort,_ even though Jace’s face is blank. Izzy meets Alec’s eyes and conveys all her sorrow and her dread, as Jens comes to stand beside her. She leans in to whisper in his ear.  Alec shakes his head at them, trying to tell them not to try anything.  If he can’t protect himself, then he at least needs to keep them safe.

T he rest of his family isn’t there. His parents have gone back to Idris as soon as Max was transferred to the Alicante hospital, and they probably don’t even know that anything is going on. Even if they did, the warlocks’ wards  over the city would prevent them from coming.

Alec refocuses on the “court”. It’s a sham of a trial, nothing like the real ones in Alicante that he’s been to – and yet he knows that this is all perfectly legal. They do it to Downworlders all the time, after all. An assembly of as few as two people, as long as it includes the Inquisitor or a member of the Council, can decide the fate of anyone if evidence of wrongdoing is presented to them.

Imogen stands up, and the whole room falls silent. “As the wards currently around New York do not allow us to transfer prisoners to await trial, I have convened this martial court in order to judge Alexander Gideon Lightwood, who stands accused  of high treason.”

S he goes on naming her court, while Alec’s guards make him sit down. He doesn’t resist and answers the factual questions he’s asked for the record – full name, date of birth, position – without protesting. If he has any chance at arguing his way out of this, it won’t be by disrupting the process.

But Imogen’s face is set and determined, and Alec knows that arguing won’t lead him anywhere. There’s some whispers in the room when she simply skips the step where she should have asked him if he wished to name someone to defend him.

The realization descends onto him like a ton of bricks. He’s kept it at bay so far, the knowledge present but distant, somehow, dissociated from his emotions, but now it suddenly hits him. There’s nothing to be done, no avenue to find, no escape. He’s going to be convicted. Even if by some magic – no, he can’t think of Magnus right now – he were to escape, he would live the rest of his life as a fugitive, hiding from the Clave. His job, gone. Everything he’s achieved in the last few years, evaporated. His family and his friends will become pariahs, and his Downworlder allies will be shunned or worse, hunted.

And Alec will be executed.

Alec blinks, almost stunned, and then blinks again when he sees  _Magnus_ right behind Imogen’s chair. Magnus smiles at him faintly,  almost  like an apparition, but he seems solid and not a figment of Alec’s imagination. He points a finger toward Alec, and a swirl of blue magic runs to connect with Alec’s chest.  No one in the room seems to notice.

_ Alexander _ , Alec suddenly hears in his head, over the noise of Imogen, still speaking. Magnus hasn’t moved his lips, but it’s indubitably his voice.

_Magnus_ , Alec thinks as loudly as he can.  _What are you doing?_

_Don’t worry, no one else can see me,_ Magnus answers.  _Clary came to get me_ .

Magnus is really there. Alec feels a strange mix of relief and dread, the tension almost bursting out of his body. He wants to apologize, to thank him, to tell him he loves him, to—

_You shouldn’t have come,_ Alec projects.  _Now they’re going to get you too._

_I’ll be fine_ , Magnus says firmly, still only in Alec’s head.  _They don’t know I’m here. You’re the one we need to worry about._

_Has Valentine been found yet?_ Alec asks. He hasn’t had any news in hours, and Valentine knows that the Mortal Mirror is Lake Lyn. If he reaches his goal, this trial won’t matter anymore – the Downworld will be gone. They’ll have other things to think about than convicting a single Shadowhunter.

And if Magnus is not in the Seelie Realm when it happens, then Alec won’t care much what happens to him, anyway.

But Magnus doesn’t have time to answer before Imogen stands up and starts reading from a file. “Alexander Gideon Lightwood, you have been accused of the following charges,” she starts, her voice carrying through the room. Alec shivers despite himself. 

“On January 30th, you sought services from a warlock named Iris Rouse, who has since been convicted of kidnapping mundanes and forcing them to carry warlock pregnancies. When you arrested her several weeks later, after she attacked Shadowhunters in Magnus Bane’s house, you failed to report your purpose in going to her in the first place, and failed to signal the warlock children you found in her house to your superiors. One of them was later found working for Valentine Morgenstern and she killed thirteen Shadowhunters in this Institute.”

A lec widens his eyes and looks at Magnus wildly. Is the Clave looking to go after  _Madzie_ ? Magnus makes a reassuring gesture,  _she’s safe_ , but frowns at Imogen in anger. 

“On March 6th, you failed to prevent Valentine Morgenstern and his followers from entering this Institute and killing a total of forty-two Shadowhunters and seventy-one Downworlders, while you and Victor Aldertree, who has since received sanction for mishandling resources, were mysteriously spared,” she continues. Alec swallows, the pronouncement hitting the nest of guilt inside him he’s never been able to shed. Aldertree may have been the Head at the time, but it’s _Alec_ ’s Institute, and he couldn’t protect it.

“On March 10th, you had Magnus Bane summon a Greater Demon, who then allowed Valentine Morgenstern to escape custody with a body-swap spell. You failed to report this fact to the Clave until several days later.”

Alec closes his eyes, unable to even look at Magnus. There is some glee in Imogen’s voice when she sees him bow his head, and he digs his cuffed fists into his lap to keep himself calm.

“On June 19th, you refused to carry out orders from the Clave to protect the New York Downworlders from a serial killer with the help of GPS chips. Only days later, as soon as you were named Head of the Institute, you started a group you called the “Downworld Cabinet”, clearly showing your allegiance to the Downworld. You also failed to report that a werewolf intruder tried to enter Valentine Morgenstern’s cell, even as he was in your custody.”

A nd that’s the real crime they’re accusing him of, isn’t it? Trying to treat Downworlders as his equals, to involve them in his decision-making? Alec opens his eyes again and stares defiantly back at Imogen. This isn’t something he will be shamed for.

“On June 25th,” Imogen continues, “you were in charge of transferring the prisoner Valentine Morgenstern to the Guard in Alicante, and you used the services of warlock Magnus Bane to do so. The prisoner never arrived in Alicante. On June 28th, it was revealed that you allowed Jonathan Morgenstern to work in your Institute under a false identity for several months, while he kept Shadowhunter Sebastian Verlac prisoner and attempted to murder Max Lightwood. You claimed that you had no knowledge of his identity.”

A lec gapes at the implication that he might have let his little brother get hurt on purpose. He hears Izzy make a noise, and whispers  flood the room. His own guilt notwithstanding – and he feels plenty for not recognizing Sebastian as an imposter – the way Imogen formulated it is designed to humiliate him, but it riles him up instead. How  _dare_ she imply that he would let people die on purpose, let alone his own family?

Magnus looks equally incensed, but Alec can’t focus on his, the edges of his vision blackening from the pure tension of his body. Someone went to the trouble to make a lengthy case against him, including things that couldn’t have just been found in his reports. This is bigger than he thought, and Imogen hasn’t even gotten to the crime he was actually arrested for.

“Finally, on July 25th, the members of your so-called Downworld Cabinet, including the warlock you have declared as your partner in the last close-and-continuing form you filed, made public their decision to stop following Clave order and, instead, and I quote, ‘take matters into their own hands’. They announced their intention to hunt and kill Valentine Morgenstern themselves, without waiting for the proper justice system. They raised wards around New York that have been confirmed to instantly kill any Shadowhunter attempting to breach them. You did not oppose them, nor attempt to arrest them.”

There. A shudder goes through the room, almost imperceptible. Alec resists the urge to look at the audience, at his Shadowhunters, and see what they think about this trial. They are trained not to show emotions.

His own emotions are almost detached now, like he’s feeling them through layers of clothes. He still feels Magnus’ light presence in his mind,  shaking in anger, and the pulse of his parabatai bond, downright furious, but he can’t bring himself to feel the same.

Whether the charges against him are just or not will not matter to the Clave,  not when they are  really an excuse.

“That is honestly so many violations of the Law that I fail to even discern a pattern,” Imogen pursues her lips. “It almost appears as if you are working for the warlock one day, and for your own advancement the next day. Those violations come on top of numerous failures to maintain discipline in your Institute while you were Acting Head, for which you received internal sanctions.” Alec winces as he feels the question in both Magnus’ mind and Jace’s bond. Neither of them know how many times Alec covering for his siblings’ disregard for the rules or Downworlders’ mistakes resulted in pay docks and extra patrols.

“What is evident,” Imogen keeps going without interruption, “is that you are not doing your duty and working to uphold the law of the Accords. In fact, you have frequently violated it without thought of the consequences. And by allying yourself with rogue Downworlders, you have committed a crime against the Clave of the highest gravity.” She pauses. “The wards raised over the city by the warlocks have killed two Shadowhunters. They still currently hold all of us hostage away from our homeland. This is an act of terrorism.”

Magnus gasps, as Alec fights not to react at all. Imogen’s use of that word, borrowed from the mundanes to name one of the worst possible crimes, is the equivalent of declaring war on all the warlocks – or it would be, if any of them were officially present.

“You will be tried as a member of a terrorism group as well as as a rogue Shadowhunter,” Imogen pronounces. Alec swallows.

Magnus looks stricken, his face open in horror.

_Has Valentine been found?_ Alec repeats in his head – he needs to know.

Magnus blinks at him and shakes his head, eyes wide. _They’ve called off the search for Valentine_ _and Jonathan_ _._

Alec struggles to keep a neutral expression. This is bad. This is beyond bad. Why would the Clave do that, unless they’ve somehow allied with Valentine?

Imogen Herondale isn’t working with Valentine. Alec is certain of that. Valentine killed her son and daughter-in-law, and stole Jace away from her, and even when their ideals align, she’d rather kill herself than ally with him. Which means that her orders are coming from above.

But there’s only one body above the Inquisitor, and the Council hasn’t had time to gather to make decisions. Imogen’s orders have to have come directly from the Consul himself.

Is it possible that Consul Dieudonné himself is working with Valentine?

_Is he still in New York?_ Alec asks silently.

Magnus doesn’t answer for a moment.  _No,_ he finally says, sounding defeated.  _He got past our wards. He made a deal with the Seelie Queen. Luke just found out._

_Fuck._ Alec almost swears out loud, but he reigns himself in just in time.  _The lake. He’s on his way to Idris. He’s going to raise the Angel._

_Won’t the Shadowhunters in Alicante stop him from entering?_ Magnus asks.

_If I’m right about this, there will be no one to stop him,_ Alec answers.  _Malachi Dieudonné is part of the Circle._

And this changes everything.

Magnus seems at a loss for words. Alec refocuses on Imogen, just as she looks up at him. Her eyes bore into him, hard and accusing. She opens her mouth.

“For the crime of high treason, Shadowhunter, how do you plead?”

Alec takes a breath and stands up.

He could draw it out, make them build an actual case, defend himself. It’s a losing battle, but he’d at least have a little more time to figure out a solution, a way to escape this.

But if he does, while all the eyes are turned here on the New York Institute, Valentine will reach Lake Lyn unimpeded and raise the Angel. Wipe out the Downworld.

It isn’t a  prospect that Alec can live with.

_I’m sorry, Magnus_ , Alec  projects . He lifts his head and looks Imogen in the eye, his gaze calm and strong. “I plead guilty,” he says.

The assembly of Shadowhunters is well-trained to reign over their emotions, but even then, there are a few gasps. Alec spots his siblings, Isabelle with a hand over her mouth, Jace pleading at him with his eyes. Clary looks like she’s itching to  move . Jens, Alec’s second-in-command, remains expressionless, but his fists tighten. Young Kara Svec, who Alec has taken under his wing the past few months, looks up at him with wide eyes  full of tears .

Magnus lets out a wordless cry of anguish in his head. Alec doesn’t think that he’s meant to hear it, but it tears him apart all the same.  _I have to,_ he thinks.  _You need to stop Valentine. I’m already out of the race, but you can still get to him. Take Jace and Clary with you._

“Alec Lightwood,” Imogen announces. She doesn’t look gleeful, or even content. Just another soldier doing their job. “You are hereby sentenced to death by immolation. You will be taken back to your cell until your execution. It will take place tomorrow at 08:00 in the Institute’s main courtyard.”

E ven if he expected it, it still feels like a punch in the gut.  Alec fights to stay perfectly still,  his head held high, but he doesn’t make  eye  contact with anyone. He can’t take their reactions.

The betrayal churns deeply in his gut. He’s always expected to die young, in battle, but not...not like this. Hung out to dry by his own people, after dedicating his life to this Institute,  _executed_ for a treason he didn’t commit…

He’s not afraid of death, but he’s not ready to die, either.

_I’m not abandoning you, Alexander_ , are Magnus’ last words before he disappears again.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me too long to write. And yes, I upped the chapter count. This got way out of hands. Hopefully the next chapter _will_ be the last.
> 
> A huge thanks to [JeanBoulet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JeanBoulet/pseuds/JeanBoulet) for betaing, cheerleading and helping me figure out the structure of this chapter, because it fought me a _lot_. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!

_Ten minutes left._

Alec stumbles when his guards push him roughly toward the center of the courtyard, struggling to regain his balance with his hands still cuffed in front of him. One of the guards swipes his stele along the cuffs to remove them, and Alec flexes his wrists to help the blood flow back into his hands. He takes a pause to steady himself, then raises his head high and walks the rest of the way.

The large rune carved in the stone of the courtyard hasn’t been used in a long time. There hasn’t been an execution in the New York Institute in over a century. Alec has to fight himself not to look down as he steps in the middle of the rune, instead holding Imogen’s gaze until she looks away.

Beyond the no-man’s-land created by the rune and its safety circle, the courtyard is crowded. They’re all familiar faces, people Alec has led for most of the last decade. There is no hunger, no blood-thirst in their eyes. In fact, the atmosphere of the courtyard is muted and heavy. Disapproving.

Imogen is in front of the crowd, holding an adamas staff. Behind her, the Institute’s c ore stone of a damas has been set on a small platform, waiting to power the staff . The staff would normally be handled by a Silent Brother, Alec knows, but there must not have been any within the warlocks’ wards. Imogen is taking it upon herself to do the deed, just like she almost did with Valentine – or the man she thought was Valentine. Alec is looking at his executioner.

The anger has settled in him, and then evaporated. There is no time left for bitterness, not when he has mere minutes to live. Imogen doesn’t matter.

He tears his eyes away from her to survey the crowd. Even the youngest Shadowhunters of the Institute are here, some of them barely turned thirteen, and Alec is immensely grateful that his parents took Max back to Alicante as soon as he was stable. He couldn’t stand to look at his little brother today.

He wonders if Imogen has deemed it necessary to inform his parents, if they’re raising hell to save him from this, powerless, in Alicante, or if they secretly think he deserves no less. He’ll never know.

Despite being crammed around the safety circle, his people are standing apart from Imogen’s goons, like they’re showing their disapproval by isolating the Clave’s envoys into a group of their own. The Institute’s Shadowhunters are all standing at attention, in their formal uniforms, the Institute’ s insignia on display on their chests. Alec chokes up. Every one of them seems to be wearing the— _his_ Institute’s symbol instead of the more conventional Clave insignia for such an occasion – it’s a deliberate show of support to _him_ , one that Imogen can’t take away from them.

Alec locks eyes with his second-in-command Jens, his mentor, who looks back at him with his gaze full of rage and sorrow. He breaks his stance to place his hand over his insignia, just above his heart. Alec nods at him, trying to make his gratitude apparent in his expression . Jens will handle the Institute until Imogen or the Consul appoints someone else – maybe Jace again, unless his association with Alec has tainted him irremediably.

A lec tries to meet everyone’s eyes, even briefly, in the time Imogen gives him. Sixteen-year-old Kara Svec, a recent transfer from Prague, who Alec has been taking under his wing. She’s crying silently, her head held high, and Alec gives her a tiny smile. Sandra, his favorite IT specialist and Alec’s _de facto_ secretary, since the Clave has yet to assign him a real one. They won’t need to anymore. Andrej, the weapons instructor who replaced Hodge, and his herd of teenage Shadowhunters. Underhill, his brand new Head of Security. Even Lindsay Wayglide and Carson Strongmill, who grumble at each of Alec’s new briefing s , are wearing their Institute insignia.

Jace and Izzy are standing at the front, their expressions a mix of horror and trepidation that even their best attempt can’t hide. They’re holding hands tightly, not bothering to stand at attention. It’s clear that they’re still hoping that something will stop the execution, but it’s too late for that now. Alec wishes that he could hug them one last time.

Magnus isn’t there. Alec wonders if he hallucinated his presence yesterday, or if Magnus is out there somewhere, trying to stop Valentine. He has his people to think about. Alec berates himself for hoping that he’d be able to look into his lover’s eyes as he died.

“Alexander Gideon Lightwood, you have been declared guilty of high treason, and sentenced to death by immolation,” Imogen declares, her tone emotionless. “Do you have any last words?”

Alec, turns away from Imogen, clasping his hands behind his back in one last show of respect in the direction of his people. He looks down at the rune on the floor and tries to put his thoughts together, swallowing.

“I was lucky,” he says quietly. The silence in the courtyard seems to grow deeper, expectant. “I was lucky to fall in love with a man as wonderful as Magnus Bane. A man who is a warlock, a Downworlder. Someone that my entire upbringing had conditioned me to despise, and yet the man I met and fell in love with was nothing like what I had been told.”

Alec blinks back the tears coming to his eyes, letting his memories of Magnus wash over him. He can barely remember, now, why their breakup felt so important, why he didn’t run to Magnus and apologize, to spend one more day, one more minute with him. Wasted chances, all of them.

“Nephilim, Downworlders, Mundanes,” he continues, this time raising his head high to meet the eyes boring into him. “We’re all people. When it comes down to it, we’re all the same, with the same faults and the same hopes. I love a Downworlder, and if the Clave is going to execute me for that, then so be it. I am not ashamed, and the only regret I have is that it took me too much time to understand how deeply we Shadowhunters are failing at fulfilling our duty.” Alec turns to look at Imogen, letting his hands fall to his sides. He refuses to show her any more deference. “Our prejudices deform our understanding of the world until it is unrecognizable, and that is how ideas like those of the Circle are born.”

I mogen opens her mouth, but Alec turns away from her again. “The coming times may bring war and grief to our doorstep,” he meets Jens’ gaze . “I am sorry that I will not be there to meet them at your side. But when there comes a time when _you_ have to take a stand, I urge you to think. Is caring for other people a crime that should be punished, just because those people are different from us?

“I love a warlock, and I will not apologize for treating him and his kind like people.”

A lec lowers his head to signify the end of his speech. He traces the rune under his feet with his eyes, once more, then catches Izzy and Jace’s eyes. _I love you_ , he mouths, opening the parabatai bond wide to push through all of his love. They’re the ones who will have to stay behind, and keep fighting.

Jace pushes back _fearstrengthlove_ and Alec nods at him just a fraction. Izzy has tears running down her cheeks. Alec takes all the courage he can get from their gazes and tries to send some back, before he turns back to Imogen. He will not let his siblings see his face as he burns.

Imogen doesn’t look at him as she raises the staff and touches it to the core stone. The entire courtyard seems to hold its breath, watching the tip light up like a stele, ready to activate the fire rune on the floor.

“Pulvis et umbra sumus,” Imogen declares. Her posture tightens when the only ones who repeat it are her Clave soldiers, but she turns her staff to the rune without stalling.

Alec closes his eyes.

This is how his story ends. Burnt to death in the courtyard of his own Institute, under the eyes of his siblings and his people. This is how he dies.

*

_Twelve hours left._

“He wasn’t supposed to plead guilty! We were supposed to have more time!”

Isabelle is pacing the length of the small bedroom, while Jace sits immobile on the bed, staring at nothing. He looks in shock, incapable of processing. Clary looks at Magnus with pleading eyes as Jace fails to react to her pats on his arm.

Magnus pinches the bridge of his nose. “The Clave called off the search for Valentine,” he says. “He got through the wards around the city. He’s on his way to Lake Lyn as we speak, and the Consul is going to welcome him with open arms.”

The three Shadowhunters stare at him in shock. “The Consul is part of the Circle?” Isabelle asks with wide eyes.

“Alec said it was the only explanation. I told him during the trial.” Magnus closes his eyes. “Maybe that was a mistake. He pleaded guilty to speed up the trial, so we could get there faster.”

“Fuck!” Jace mutters through his teeth. He rams his fist into the mattress in desperate rage.

“That sounds like Alec,” Isabelle sighs.

“What do we do?” Clary asks, wringing her hands. “We have to stop Valentine, but we can’t let Alec get executed!”

Magnus feels himself flinch at the word once more . Executed. If they don’t find a solution fast, Alec will be burned to death by his own people, for the crime of loving him. Of being a good person, in spite of everything he’s been taught.

Clenching his fists, Magnus forces down the magical outburst he can fe e l coming and instead conjures a timer. “We have twelve hours,” he says, starting the magical clock with a wave of his hand.

“If Valentine is already in Idris, he’ll be at Lake Lyn long before that,” Isabelle says. Her face distorts before her next sentence. “Stopping him has to be our priority. We can’t let him succeed.”

Magnus shakes his head. “I agree that he’s the priority, but we can’t leave things as they are. This isn’t just about Alec. Even if we succeed in stopping Valentine, if Alec is executed tomorrow and word gets out about why, we’re looking at an all-out war.” He takes a gasping breath, the guilt eating him alive. How much of all this is his fault? He _knows_ , he’s known for centuries that the Seelie Queen can’t be trusted. He chose her side over Alec. And if the war that’s brewing happens, he’ll have doomed his own people as well as Alec.

He leans against the wall, struggling to breathe through the panic. “Magnus?” Isabelle asks, squeezing his arm .

Magnus shakes himself. He can’t give in to the fear. Not yet. _“_ The Seelie Queen betrayed us all. And your Clave is about to execute one of its own Heads for associating with the Downworld. This is a fuse that will blow it up to _massive_ proportions.”

“But what can we _do_?” Clary asks.

“We need to split up,” Jace breathes, meeting Magnus’ eyes as he understands his intent. “Some of us need to stay behind. To organize.”

“Yes,” Magnus confirms.

They all look at each other for a moment. It’s not an easy decision. “Magnus,” Isabelle says softly. “You’re the best equipped to fight Valentine, especially since Jonathan might be with him.”

Magnus sighs. As loathe as he is to leave Alec, he knows she’s right. “I’ll go. I’ve already spoken to Luke and Raphael, they know where I stand. You can coordinate with them.”

“What about the warlocks?” Clary asks. “There’s still the wards over the city.”

“That’s also why I need to go,” Magnus says. “I’m the only one here who can go through them. I can take one of you with me. The warlocks won’t get involved beyond lowering the wards when I tell them to, unless war is officially declared.”

“The wards are useless now, though,” Isabelle remarks.

“Maybe not,” Jace says. “If you take them down, we expose ourselves to the Clave, and we know we can’t trust them. Right now every Shadowhunter in New York is in the Institute. That could work to our advantage.”

“An insurrection?” Magnus asks curiously.

“Maybe not that far, but Imogen is a minority right now. Our people are loyal to Alec. We may be able to use that to stall, if nothing else.”

Magnus nods. “Buy us more time.” He eyes the timer. “We could use that.”

“Clary, you go with Magnus,” Jace says.

Clary frowns. “You’re a better fighter than I am.”

Jace shakes his head. “You have your runes. And I’m needed here. My name and Izzy’s contacts will go a long way.”

Jace doesn’t add that if Alec is executed, it will incapacitate him and make him useless in a fight, but Magnus can see it on his face.

Clary nods and stands up, checking her pocket for her stele. “Magnus, do you think you could summon me a blade from the armory?” she asks. “I don’t know if we’re still on house arrest, but I’m sure we’ll be watched the second we step out of this room.”

“Of course.” Magnus visualizes the armory the best he can and pulls. The blade he finds in his hand isn’t Clary’s usual one, but Clary doesn’t seem to be bothered as she grabs it and clips it to her belt.

“Alright, Biscuit,” Magnus takes her shoulder. “We can’t waste any more time.”

He watches her hug Jace tightly, then Izzy, and the steel band around his chest tightens a little more at the thought of Alec, alone in a cell, waiting for his execution. He doesn’t let himself wish that they could have had more time, that they could have talked. They _will_ .

“Isabelle,” he says. Isabelle turns to him and hugs him a well, but Magnus can’t quite return the gesture. He’s too tense. “If we don’t make it back in time—”

“We’ll do everything in our power,” Isabelle promises. She doesn’t say what, specifically. She can’t promise more.

Neither can Magnus. “If Valentine succeeds,” he starts instead, swallowing. “Tell Alec that I love him, and I’m so sorry.”

“Oh, Magnus,” Isabelle murmurs. “You’ll get to tell him yourself. Have faith.”

Magnus nods. “I love you, too. Alec is my family now, and that means that so are you.”

“Go kill Valentine for me, then,” Jace says, punching his arm. In another context, it could have seemed callous, even rejecting. But the look on his face says everything, and Magnus suddenly remembers that Valentine raised him. That Valentine is his abuser.

“For all of us,” he chokes out. “Brother.”

They’re brothers in battle now , not just in their connection to Alec. They strive toward the same goal. Jace nods, pursuing his lips in the way he does when he’s trying to hide his emotions .

Magnus opens a portal, layering it with a shield meant to pierce wards, both those of the Institute and the ones around the city. Clary takes his hand, and in a second, they’re gone.

*

_Eight hours left._

They’ve set up in the training room. It’s something Alec once started, Izzy remembers, in the first year he took over the Institute. He was sixteen, not even an adult in Nephilim eyes. She remembers that he had to get Jens to sign every single report before he could even send them to their parents because his own signature held no weight, even though he was effectively running an entire Institute.

Their parents still came back for a few days every month back then, and after dressing Alec down for some minor mistake, they’d kicked him out of the Head’s office like his work meant nothing. So Alec had swallowed his pride, changed into workout clothes, and held every single one of his planned meetings in the training room, under the guise of fighting hand-to-hand.

He kept doing that as long as their parents still held some pretense of running the Institute whenever they were in New York. The practice came in handy when first Lydia, then Aldertree and later Imogen took over the Institute and Izzy watched Alec more than once discreetly listen to his people’s complaints and needs while kicking their ass on the training room floor, or letting them pretend to watch him fight Jace or Izzy herself.

Today it’s Izzy and Jace on the mats, sparring without conviction. It’s past midnight, and the benches are full. They’ve had to wait until Imogen retired for the night, leaving only one of her henchmen to watch over the ops center while the Institute works are reduced capacity. They can’t leave the bounds of the city, when they would usually handle calls as far out as New Jersey, and half of the regular patrols have been canceled because of the events of the day. Anything involving Downworlders has been put on indefinite hold.

Izzy straightens with a silent nod to Jace, untangling herself from his grip, and heads back toward the nearest bench to grab her towel. Jens hands her a bottle of water, casually standing up next to her, just outside of the line of sight of the Clave guard in the other room.

“Clary’s training all night,” Izzy says. “I need someone to cover for her. It’s her _final_ exam.”

Jens nods gravely. “Is she on her own?”

“No,” Izzy shakes her head. “She’s getting some help.” She makes a small hand gesture low at her side, imitating Magnus’ style the best she can.

“Good,” Jens nods. “I hope it will be enough.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Izzy sees Jace gesture to her. It looks like he’s got Lindsay to distract the Clave guard, and he has his back to them now. Jace runs his hand across his throat. The sound of the surveillance system has been taken down. The guard won’t notice as long as he’s not looking. They have a few minutes.

She signals the Shadowhunters around her to come closer. They gather around her just as Jace joins them, still looking like an accidental grouping but close enough to listen.

“I think you all know that the crimes Alec is accused of are unfair and that he’s innocent. It looks like the Clave is corrupt far beyond what we thought. I’m reaching out to people we trust to try to overturn this decision, but I need you to be ready.”

“Ready for what?” one of the Shadowhunters asks.

It’s Kara Svec, Alec’s little protegee. She’s at the bottom of the Institute hierarchy, still a trainee, and she’s speaking out of turn, but Izzy doesn’t point it out. She knows it, Izzy can see it on her face. She loves Alec and she’s terrified.

Alec was her age when he took over the Institute, Izzy realizes. She didn’t understand how young that was at the time. They were teenagers, ready to take on the world, and she and Jace must have caused Alec so much trouble with their unruliness. Izzy can barely handle the thought of leading the Institute now, let alone when she was sixteen.

Izzy puts an arm around Kara’s shoulders to comfort her, though the young Shadowhunter is taller than her. “ We’re going to do everything we can to get Alec out of this,” she says. It’s looking less and less like they’ll succeed while staying within the bonds of Clave law. Izzy and Jace have tried everything they could already, from calling their parents – they didn’t answer, and Izzy has a feeling that Imogen is purposefully keeping them away – to Jace directly trying to convince Imogen to change her mind. Izzy has been through all of her contacts in Alicante, and the only thing she got was a promise from Aline that she’d call back as soon as she got hold of her mother.

“If we have to, we’ll stop the execution and break Alec out,” Jace says, his voice deep and more confident than he is. “We won’t ask any of you to put yourself in a position to go against the Clave, but we need to know that you won’t stop us.”

Jens steps up at that. “Alec is our Head, and what’s happening is wrong. I am loyal to him before the Clave.” Izzy nods at him. The older Shadowhunter is Alec’s mentor in many ways, the one who taught him how to run the Institute when their parents left. Alec broke traditions when he made Jens his official second-in-command, despite him not being a fieldworker.

“He’s the best commander I’ve ever had,” Underhill declares. “I stand with him. We’ll help in any way we can.”

Kara nods emphatically at that, tears in her eyes , and she’s followed by all of the others. Everyone here has a reason to be thankful to Alec, and that’s exactly why Izzy chose them.

“We’ll do things by the book for as long as possible,” Izzy says. “But be ready. Pass the word to anyone you know you can trust.”

“Time’s up,” Jace signals.

They break ranks immediately, going back to the benches as Jace drags Underhill out to the center of the room. Izzy sits down next to Jens, making a show of unwrapping her hands.

“Whatever happens tomorrow,” she murmurs. “Thank you. For your support, for all these years. Alec wouldn’t have made it without you. None of us would have.”

Jens lowers his head. “I wish I could have protected him more. He took on so much more than he should have had to, and now they’re punishing him for it.”

“Imogen hates Downworlders. Hell, the Clave hates them. Alec knew that when he made his choices, Jens. None of this is your fault.”

“Be careful tomorrow,” Jens whispers. “We’re on the brink of war. If you free Alec and side with the Downworld, you’ll be hunted by every Institute.”

“I hope it won’t come to that, but it’s better than Alec being executed,” Izzy murmurs. She looks around her and spots Kara with her face in her hands, trembling slightly. “Jens, tonight, will you watch over Kara? I’m worried about her. She’s really attached to Alec.” Izzy doesn’t know all the details of the abusive situation she escaped in her previous Institute, run by her father, but she knows enough to know that Alec saved her life by pulling her out. The fear of losing him could pull her right back to the traumatized state she was in when she first got to New York.

“I know,” Jens says sadly. “I’ll take care of her. What about you? Are you going to be okay?”

Jens is one of the few people in the Institute who knows about Izzy still being in recovery, and how stressful the last few months have been.

“I’ll hang on until morning,” Izzy smiles weakly, touched by his concern. “I have Jace. And I have a mission. I’ll be fine.”

*

_Two hours left._

“For the last time, the Inquisitor is not allowing any visitors,” the Clave guard growls, his hand ostensibly on the hilt of his seraph blade.

Izzy fights the urge to roll her eyes. “Come on,” she pleads. “He’s my brother. He’s gonna die tomorrow.” She almost chokes on the last sentence, and it’s far less of an act than she’s willing to admit.

No. Alec isn’t going to die. They’re going to get him out of there.

“I have orders,” the guard says. “I’m not letting you through.”

Izzy sighs. She’s been trying to get to Alec for a while, coming back here every hour, but it’s not happening. She turns on her heels and walks back to the elevator. Jace joins her just as she gets out on the third floor and comes with her to her room. “Any luck?” he asks.

“No.”

“Me neither. Still nothing from our parents, and Clary and Magnus aren’t answering their phones.”

“Fuck,” Izzy swears through her teeth. She throws herself on her bed. It puts her face to face with Magnus’ timer, which now read 2:03. They’ve got two hours and three minutes left to save Alec, and they haven’t made any progress. What are they going to do?

The only positive point so far is that Luke and Raphael are still alive, answering their texts, so Valentine hasn’t succeeded in making the Wish. Yet. Clary and Magnus have been out of contact since they portalled to Idris, so there’s no way to know if they’re even alive.

Izzy’s phone buzzes in her hand, and she brings it up to see the text, only now realizing how tightly she’s gripping it. Jace sits down beside her to look over her shoulder.

It’s Aline.

_Mom has got the Council together in an emergency meeting. The Consul is out of reach, so she’s calling the shots. What do you need?_

Izzy breathes out. Finally, something is moving. Just as she moves to answer, her phone starts ringing.

“It’s Clary,” she breathes. Jace immediately straightens. Izzy taps the screen to answer the video call.

“Clary?”

“Izzy!” Clary’s face appears on the screen, bathes in sunlight. It’s almost midday in Idris. Magnus comes into the frame beside her, and Izzy lets out a breath she didn’t know she held all this time. They both look okay, if a little out of breath.

“We did it,” Clary says. “We got Valentine. He’s dead.”

Izzy closes her eyes in relief – or maybe just exhaustion. Jace says something under his breath and squeezes her against him tightly.

“He raised the Angel, but I got to him before he could make a wish,” Clary continues.

“Thank the Angel,” Izzy sighs. A part of her registers that the Angel she’s thanking is the one who would have annihilated the Downworld on Valentine’s command. “I mean, thank _you,_ in this case. You’re certain he’s dead?”

“Yes,” Clary answers. “Magnus killed him while I talked to the Angel.”

Izzy chokes on her breath at Clary’s nearly casual tone. “You _talked_ to _Raziel_?”

“Yeah,” Clary laughs. She sounds more shell-shocked than happy. She’s had a long night. They all have, but Clary and Magnus perhaps more than anyone else. “Not my first rodeo with an angel, remember? I told him that we didn’t want to make the Wish today, and he left. The Wish is safe.”

Izzy takes a moment to breathe and process that. It’s too much at the same time, she doesn’t know where to even start, but she has to keep it together. For Alec. Alec needs her to figure out their next step, and the next. He needs her to get him out of this.

The news of Valentine’s death should feel more earth-shattering than it does, but they still have work to do. Izzy puts that aside for now. They can celebrate and think of what almost happened later.

“What about the Consul?” she asks.

“We ran into him while walking to the lake,” Magnus answers. “We had the element of surprise, since he didn’t know we knew he was a traitor. We had to fight off his goons, but I think we got them all. The Consul is dead.”

“Good. Do you have conclusive proof that they were with the Circle?” Jace asks.

“Is this enough?” Clary asks, switching to her phone’s second camera. It moves for a moment before it stops on what is unmistakably Malachi Dieudonné’s face, the Circle rune prominent on his neck. “I think he had a glamour on it that fell when he died.”

“Definitely enough,” Izzy says, taking a screenshot. She thinks for a moment, as Clary brings the camera back on herself and Magnus. “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to get in touch with the Council.” She pauses as Magnus nods. “We need to make sure that you’re untouchable, especially Magnus, in case there are other Circle members in the Council. You record a video of you two explaining exactly what happened tonight. Jace authorized Magnus’ portal as Head of Field Ops and Magnus will get paid for his services, so we’re in the clear on that front. Make sure the video shows Malachi and the Circle rune clearly, and that you don’t implicate yourselves. Then send it to the Institute’s servers. It will make several backups just in case.”

“Okay,” Clary accepts. “We’ll do that. Can we come back now?”

Izzy sighs. “No. I’m sorry, but if you aren’t there when the Council sends a team to the scene, this will all have been for nothing.”

“Alec only has two hours left,” Magnus says, anguish in voice.

“I know, Magnus. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure he’s still alive when you get back, okay? But you can’t leave Idris, or you’ll get thrown in jail too, and it will all have been for nothing.”

Magnus pinches the bridge of his nose, but nods.

“Magnus, can you get the warlocks to bring down the wards? We’ll need you and whoever they send from the Consul to be able to come through.”

“Okay,” Magnus says. “I’ll be there the second they let me go.”

“Me too,” Clary affirms. “Guys. We’re gonna make it through. Valentine’s dead. We’re gonna save Alec. Okay? Just hold it together.”

Izzy takes a breath and gives her a small smile, feeling Jace do something similar at her side. “Thanks, Clary.”

They’re all inches away from crumbling, but they need to hold on for a bit longer. One hour and forty-eight minutes left, according to the timer.

It’s a terrifyingly short amount of time that somehow feels like an eternity. Izzy sends the screenshot of Malachi’s Circle rune to Aline, along with a quick summary of what happened, and transmits Clary and Magnus’ video to the Council as soon as she gets it. Jace paces the length of the bedroom, fists clenched. After a while, Izzy takes his hand and pulls him down to the floor, where they sit cross-legged, across from each other.

“I think Alec could use some calm right now,” Izzy gestures to Jace’s parabatai rune, swallowing her tears. It’s almost seven. Outside, the sun is rising, coming through the stained glass windows.

Jace lets out a near-sob. They still don’t have an answer from the Council, and Clary and Magnus aren’t responding to Izzy’s texts. With no official backup coming, all their plans are crumbling one by one until they’re only left with the last resort.

“Breathe with me, brother,” Izzy murmurs, holding out her hands. “Send him strength. And love.”

Jace links hands with her and closes his eyes.

They don’t move until Jens knocks on the door, fifteen minutes before the end of the timer. “It’s time,” he says when Izzy opens the door. “They’re prepping him.”

Clary and Magnus haven’t made it back.

They’ve run out of time.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes on right where we left Alec in the previous chapter, standing on the immolation rune waiting for Imogen to light it.
> 
> A huge thanks to [JeanBoulet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JeanBoulet/pseuds/JeanBoulet) for betaing and cheerleading as usual!

“Wait!”

Alec opens his eyes. Imogen has frozen with the end of her staff just inches from the fire rune. He looks around to see who has spoken, but he already knows. He feels it. It’s Jace.

“Not now, Jace,” Imogen scolds him, keeping her staff close to the rune. “This can’t be interrupted.”

Jace resolutely steps inside the safety circle, and Imogen immediately lifts up her staff. Alec locks eyes with him. _What are you doing?_ he tries to ask silently. His whole body is coiled and almost trembling in anticipation of pain that isn’t coming. He can almost feel phantom flames lick at his feet, but there’s nothing.

The faces around them are expectant and apprehensive, but not shocked. No one tries to stop Jace, and they look at him with something like pride.

“You’re about to execute my parabatai!” Jace shouts. “I can’t let you do it.”

“He had a trial and pleaded guilty,” Imogen frowns at him in anger. “It’s over. I’m sorry Jace, but it’s done.”

“No, it’s not,” Jace breathes as he reaches Alec, grasping his hand. “Be ready,” he murmurs.

_Ready for what?_ Alec wants to ask. But he doesn’t get the chance.  Izzy joins them in the center of the circle, and Alec’s heart goes up to his throat, as much in pride as in dread. They’re going to get themselves killed, or arrested. But he can’t help the way his body vibrates at the feel of his siblings’ hands in his, when he’d thought he’d never feel them again.

“Get out of the circle, Jace,” Imogen’s tone turns threatening as she lowers her staff once again.

“If you ignite this rune,” Jace gestures at the carved rune under their feet, “then you burn me, too. Are you ready to kill your grandson? Your only family?”

“Why are you doing this?”

Jace looks at Alec for a fraction of a second before turning back to Imogen.  “ Because he’s my parabatai and my brother. And he doesn’t deserve this.”

“Being bound to him weakens you,” Imogen sneers. “You forget your place. You’re a Herondale, and you deserve better than a traitor for a parabatai.”

Jace swallows, and Alec squeezes his hand. Through their bond, he feels the last of his brother’s hesitation, his hope for a reconciliation, fade away. “If there’s one thing I learned about family, living with the Lightwoods, it’s that it’s not just a name,” Jace says. “Alec is my family more than you ever will be.”

“And he’s not a traitor,” Izzy adds. “Just a good man who did his best to avoid a war.”

“Guys, you can’t do this,” Alec murmurs, too low for anyone but his siblings to hear. “You’ve got to go, or she’ll punish you too.”

“It’s okay, Alec,” Izzy whispers back. “Luke is waiting for us outside. Just be ready to run.”

Alec closes his eyes. This can’t end well. They’re surrounded by several hundred Shadowhunters, even if no one seems to be in a hurry to stop them. They won’t make it out of here, and even if they did, the consequences of this…

“I will have you removed,” Imogen warns. When neither Jace nor Izzy makes a move to get out of the Circle, she signals her guards to grab them. Jace and Izzy look at each other and let Alec’s hands go, stepping in front of him.

Jace delivers the first blow, in front of a silent, unmoving audience. Imogen gasps in disbelief as the first of her two guards takes a step back, then attacks Jace. He doesn’t last more than thirty seconds  and crumbles under  Jace’s well placed right hook.

Izzy slips a stele in Alec’s hand before she goes to dig her heel into the second Shadowhunter’s stomach with a kick-flip. Alec quickly activates his strength and accuracy runes. As Izzy finishes off the guard, he adds his stamina rune as well. He hasn’t slept in almost three days, and he’s really feeling the strain.

His mind still hasn’t really registered that he’s not dead, but he falls into a fighting stance all the same.

“Shadowhunters!” Imogen calls out when she sees her second guard go down. “Arrest them!”

For a moment, nothing happens. There’s a lull, the Shadowhunters around the courtyard staring at Jace and  Izzy inside the rune circle. Staring at Alec.  Jace and Izzy fall back closer to Alec, but they don’t look tense, like they don’t expect  the other Shadowhunters to  do it . 

Then Kara steps forward,  weaponless, her hand on her Institute insignia. “I  refuse to obey ,” she calls out, her voice trembling but resolute. She breaches the safety circle  and joins them inside . 

Imogen stares at her, gobsmacked. Alec feels a rush of pride, but closes his eyes in dismay. The last thing he wants is to put her at risk.

“I stand with you,” Jens declares before Imogen can recover from her surprise. He joins Kara inside the circle with no hesitation.

One by one, the Shadowhunters around them step into the circle. Underhill. Laura. Raj. Lindsay. Stunned, Alec stares as they all refuse Imogen’s order and declare their loyalty. In a minute, a good third of the Shadowhunters present have made their move, and none of the others seem prepared to go against them.

Alec bows his head under their stares, a tear running down his cheek, overwhelmed by pride and gratefulness. Shadowhunters learn to lay down their life for their comrades without hesitation in battle, but he would never ask them to do that in such a situation. This is more than a show of support – they’re proclaiming their loyalty in a way that leaves no room for ambiguity. They’re putting themselves on the line for him.

Jace pats his shoulder and looks Imogen in the eyes, through the crowd now separating them. “You can’t execute all of us.”

“This is an insurrection,” Imogen seethes. “Do you know what you all risk?”

“This is our Institute,” Izzy opposes. “Our turf.”

“ _Alec’s_ Institute!” Underhill proclaims.

“You still answer to the Law!”

“Valentine is dead,” Jace murmurs in Alec’s ear as voices of protestation rise across the courtyard.

“Magnus and Clary?” Alec asks.

Jace opens his mouth, but in a twist of fate, that’s the exact moment when a commotion starts at the edge of the courtyard, by the door that leads back into the Institute’s ops center. Alec and his siblings turn to look as  the Shadowhunters move to let through two  people . The first has Clary’s unmistakable red hair, though it’s dirty and tangled.  The second takes Alec’s breath away as  he always does .

Magnus looks perfectly composed, aside from the bloody cut just above his left eyebrow. By contrast, Clary is covered in dirt and blood. But they both look alright, if exhausted, and Alec lets out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding.

Magnus meets his eyes across the courtyard, and almost staggers in relief. “Alexander,” he mouths, moving in long strides to Alec before anyone can try to stop him. He reaches out and stops just before touching Alec, suddenly unsure.

Alec takes his hand and leans forward, letting their brows meet for the briefest moment. He can feel the gazes on them, the curiosity and the impatience there, and he doesn’t dare do more. He doesn’t know where he stands with Magnus, and now is not the time to find out.

“You’re both okay?” he asks.

“Yes,” Magnus breathes.

“Valentine is dead!” Clary announces loudly. “His body has been retrieved by the Council. The wards around the city are now down.”

“Malachi is dead too,” Jace whispers to Alec. “We’ve got proof that he was in the Circle.”

Alec lets out a sigh of relief, closing his eyes briefly. Valentine is dead. The threat against the Downworld is gone. Magnus is  safe .

Now it’s time to fight for his Institute. His people. He lets go of Magnus’ hands.

Kara taps his wrist, and Alec looks back at her. She slips her Institute insignia in his hand with a small smile. “Your Institute,” she murmurs.

Alec nods at her proudly, briefly squeezing her hand before he pins the insignia on his dark red shirt – the closest thing Imogen’s guards could find to the traditional red of execution in the Institute. He makes his way to Imogen and the edge of the circle, his people parting respectfully before him and  standing at attention .

He keeps his movements purposefully slow as Imogen watches him approach, and stops a few steps away from her, holding her gaze.

“We answer to the Law,” he says. He feels Izzy slip a phone into his hand and he looks down briefly to check the screen. “But not to a corrupt Clave. Did you know, Inquisitor Herondale, that your Consul was a Circle member?”

“Excuse me?” Imogen bellows. Her surprise looks genuine, though she might simply be a very good actor. But Alec doesn’t think that she’s working for Valentine, not with her history. Not when she very nearly executed Magnus in Valentine’s body herself.

He forbids himself from thinking about Magnus, who is standing at his left shoulder, any more than that and he extends his arm to show Imogen the photo on Izzy’s phone’s screen, which shows Consul Malachi Dieudonné with a Circle rune on his neck. She brings a hand to her mouth in shock.

Alec takes a deep breath. “I declare a state of emergency over the New York Institute and invoke the right of Separation under the Laws of Governance,” he announces. “From this moment and until the matter of the Consul’s treason has been investigated and resolved, this Institute stands outside of the Clave’s jurisdiction and will answer directly to the Angel.”

Imogen still looks too stunned to answer, but one of  the other Clave officials steps in front of her. “You can’t do that!” he shouts. “You’re not Head of the Institute anymore!”

Alec calmly stares him down. “I believe that both an execution order and a demotion from the position of Head are required to be signed by the Inquisitor’s hand and filed officially at the Council Hall. Since no Nephilim has been able to pass the wards around the city since yesterday morning, they haven’t been filed yet. I’m still the Head of the Institute, and within my rights to declare  our  Separation.”

“This is wrong,” Imogen pushes past her colleague to stand tall in front of Alec. She’s almost two heads shorter than him, but another time, he would have bowed down to her. Not today. “Where did you find that?” she gestures to the phone still in Alec’s hand. “It’s a fake. Warlock!” she points at Magnus. “You did this!”

Magnus stares at her for a moment, letting a slow smirk spread on his face. “That depends on what you’re trying to  accuse me of ,” he tilts his head dramatically. “Did I kill the Consul? No. That was Clarissa’s admirable work.” He ignores the gasps of surprise around them. “Did I take this picture? Also no. Did I, while you were here trying to execute my boyfriend, defend my people  _and_ yours against a terrorist and kill Valentine Morgenstern? Now  _that_ I can answer  affirmatively .”

Alec would laugh at  Magnus’ poise if he wasn’t so tense.  He tries not to let hi s mind linger on  _boyfriend_ .

“Downworlders have been banned from this Institute,” Imogen spits out. “You’re here to declare war.”

“No,” Magnus sobers. “You already have. I’m only here to stop an injustice and protect my family. I should probably warn you that the Institute is surrounded by vampires, werewolves and warlocks as we speak.”

“The Institute’s wards have been raised against all Downworlders. They can’t enter!”

Magnus laughs blandly. “And who do you think built those wards? I can bring them down in seconds. In fact,” he waves his hands, blue sparks moving around him, “I already have.”

Alec nods at Izzy, who slips away discreetly as Imogen gets even more agitated. “The wards are down and Downworlders are assaulting this Institute!” she shouts, her voice echoing around the courtyard. “This warlock just admitted it! Why are you all still standing there? We are under attack!”

A number of Shadowhunters look hesitantly between her and Alec, wondering who to obey. A few – Alec makes note of their faces – start taking out their weapons, but they stall when they realize that the rest of the crowd isn’t following.

“There is no attack,” Alec opposes coldly. “Downworlders are welcome in my Institute.”

Izzy slips back in at that moment with Raphael and Luke in tow. They step behind Alec, a wall of loyal Shadowhunters automatically forming around them for protection.  Alec makes sure that the symbol of it all is abundantly clear to Imogen.

“You, however, are not,” he continues. “Magnus, will you open a portal? It’s time for the Inquisitor to go back to Alicante. Anyone here who’s loyalty goes to the Clave above this Institute is welcome to follow her.”

Imogen’s face looks constipated, but before she can answer, Underhill signals for Alec’s attention by the door leading to the ops center. “The portal won’t be necessary, warlock Bane,” comes a loud voice. Alec recognizes Jia Penhallow, who walks into the courtyard briskly, followed by Aline and five Shadowhunters in Council Guard uniforms, as well as another warlock. “We have our own.”

Alec straightens  and stands at attention as Jia reaches him, but he keeps the Downworlders safe behind him. “ Councilor Penhallow,” he says formally.

“I apologize for not taking the time to warn you of my visit,” Jia tells him. Aline smiles at Alec from behind her and he relaxes a fraction. “The Council called for an emergency meeting and had to make some executive decisions in the wake of Consul Dieudonné’s death.”

“I should inform you before anything that I have invoked the right of Separation,” Alec speaks up. “The Downworld representatives are here under the New York Institute’s protection.”

Jia’s surprise is only betrayed by a minute halt before she nods. “Noted,” she says. “But I am not here to arrest them, nor any of your Shadowhunters.  The Council has obtained proof that Consul Malachi Dieudonné has been working with Valentine Morgernstern. He has been declared a traitor and his entire staff will be reviewed.”  She turns to Imogen, who is still standing frozen at the edge of the rune circle. “Inquisitor Herondale, you are hereby suspended from your functions, pending investigation.  All your current cases will be reinvestigated.  Any ongoing sentence you have dealt is revoked and will be reviewed.”

There’s a general sigh of relief around Alec, and Izzy squeezes his arm.

“Lightwood,” Jia goes back to Alec. “Your actions will be re-examined in the light of the recent event. As you cannot be tried by the Clave under Separation, your case will be reviewed by a jury of your Peers.”

“I understand,” Alec bows his head.

“In the meantime, you will remain Head of the Separated New York Institute. You have a period of thirty days to dissolve the Separation or have your Institute vote for permanent Detachment by referendum.”

“I intend to dissolve as soon as a new Consul is elected, unless something else happens,” Alec promises. Detachment would incapacitate his Institute too much to be reasonable, even if the thought of parting with the Clave is sometimes tempting. That part of the Laws of Governance was written for times of war, when dire situations arise that need to be resolved faster than the Council can make decisions. Separation makes Alec the sole authority over the Institute, and he’s in a good place to know how dangerous that can be.

Jia softens imperceptibly. “That should happen within a few days,” she says. “There will be other matters to resolve, but for now, I will escort Mrs Herondale back to the Guard and go back to the Council.  Your Institute and your friends have been through a lot.  Take your time to regroup. And don’t worry too much about the trial,” she adds. “I’m confident that your peers will see that you acted like any good Head would have.”

“Thank you,” Alec nods, allowing himself a small smile of gratitude. 

“Given the threat that Valentine Morgenstern put on the Downworld, there will be no repercussion for the warlocks’ actions of the last few days,” Jia nods toward Magnus. “The Council is grateful for your help in stopping Valentine.”

Magnus nods back without a word.

Jia signals to the warlock who came with her and he opens a portal. The entire crowd watches Imogen, defeated and silent, walk the length of the courtyard and disappear, followed by the two Clave officials who joined her for the trial. Underhill and Jens help the two half-conscious guards through the portal under Jace and Izzy’s smug gazes. None of the Institute’s Shadowhunters choose to leave. Jia and her own guards bring up the rear, leaving Aline behind.

“Alec! By the Angel, that was _amazing_!” Izzy exclaims as soon as the portal closes, jumping into his arms.

Alec laughs, suddenly exhausted. “Thank you,” he says tearfully, not quite capable of holding in his emotions any longer. “It was all thanks to you.” He makes a gesture to encompass Jace and all the others.

Everyone starts talking at the same time, and he gives up on understanding anything that is said. He’s tired and overwhelmed and swaying on his feet as his siblings and his friends all try to hug him in their relief.

He takes Kara’s Institute insignia off his shirt and pins it back on her chest, cupping her neck to make sure she knows how proud he is.  She smiles back widely, her eyes full of tears. Alec tries to have a word for each of the Shadowhunters who approach him, even though their faces  quickly start to  blur in his head. They all stood for him, today. They saved his life. His parabatai bond pulses with  _reliefpridejoy_ and Alec wants nothing more than lie down and let that overtake him.

But he has something to do first. He scans the crowd for Magnus and finds him right beside him, hovering without quite touching him, his face unsure.

“Can we talk?” Alec asks.

Magnus nods with a small smile. “How about we sleep first, and talk later?”

“Yeah,” Alec laughs weakly. “That’s probably best.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may have noticed that I have added yet another chapter to the chapter count. I had to cut this one in two because the length got out of hands. The last chapter will be more of an epilogue to give Alec and Magnus a chance to talk and properly make up, and it's already finished so I'll post it in the next few days.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks to [JeanBoulet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JeanBoulet/pseuds/JeanBoulet) as usual for betaing.
> 
> This is the last chapter, it's a bit more than an epilogue because I wanted to have some proper comfort. I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> Side note: I am changing my handle to EchoBleu. I've set it as a pseud for now so my former name still appears but I'll be Echo from now on. The change won't break links to my fics but it will break links to my profile, and I also changed my tumblr (to echo-bleu).
> 
> [CW for implied PTSD flashbacks and hallucinations related to immolation]

Sleep doesn’t come easily. Alec is in that stage of exhaustion where his body is only hanging on by a thread – that thread is mostly the nearly burned out stamina rune he activated earlier. He’s too wound up to fall asleep.

Jens and Izzy shooed him out of the ops center, promising that they have things well in hands, and Alec trusts them. That’s not the problem. The problem is that too much happened in too little time, and neither his body nor his mind have had time to catch up, and it’s now falling on him all at once and _crushing_ him. Magnus guides him very gently all the way to his room on the third floor, but he hesitates at the door.

“Do you _want_ to come in?” Alec asks him.

“Of course, Alexander, but—”

“We both need rest,” Alec says forcefully, before he can second guess himself. If he did, he’d start to wonder why Magnus is even here. He lets himself fall on his bed fully dressed, only kicking off his shoes. After a minute’s hesitation, Magnus follows suit.

They lie there on the bed, each on their own side, acutely aware of each other. It hurts, to be so close to Magnus but so far away at the same time. Alec wants to hug him, to fall asleep in his arms and pretend for a few hours that nothing’s wrong.

When he does fall asleep, after too long staring at the ceiling, his sleep is filled with fire and screams and glowing staves. He wakes up trashing and covered in sweat, to Magnus’ concerned calls.

“I’m okay,” he pants. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Magnus says softly. “It’s understandable. You’ve had a rough couple of days. Or, well, a rough year.”

Alec falls back down on his pillow with a sigh. “I just—” His near-execution affected him more than he hoped. It was probably to be expected, but he hates it all the same.

“Can I touch you?” Magnus asks. “Would it help?”

“Maybe?” Alec whispers, almost ashamed.

Magnus doesn’t say a word as he guides Alec to lie on his side and spoons him with careful movements. Alec relaxes almost as soon as he feels Magnus’ touch and falls asleep.

When he wakes up again, it’s dark outside. Magnus hasn’t moved, and he’s sleeping with his arm over Alec’s waist. Alec tries to rid himself of the disturbing images of his dream without moving, but the scorched bodies of his siblings are imprinted behind his eyelids. Alec gently untangles himself from Magnus and sits up, running a hand through his hair.

He hasn’t had a shower in days, and he’s still wearing the horrible red shirt the Clave guards forced him into this morning. He shudders, imaginary flames licking at his arms. In one quick move, he slips the shirt off his back and sends it flying to a corner of the room.

“Alexander?” Magnus mutters, his eyes still closed.

“Go back to sleep,” Alec says. “I’ll just be a minute.”

He tries to take a scalding hot shower, something he often does after bad missions to get rid of the itch under his skin, but as soon as the water hits his skin, he’s back in the rune circle, watching the staff ignite the fire rune. He presses his body against the cool shower wall and turns the tap all the way to cold.

He dries himself and finds one of his black tee-shirts to wear, a part of him relieved that his wardrobe is entirely devoid of red. He tiptoes back into his room, where Magnus is still asleep, to grab his shoes and he waits until he’s in the corridor to put them on.

His phone is still somewhere in holding, along with his watch and everything he had on him when Imogen arrested him. He’ll have to see about that. He’ll have to see about – Angel, so many things. He staggers a little just thinking about the work that awaits him.

The ops floor is quiet, quieter than usual. It’s about an hour past the first patrol departures, and the room is bathed in the low neon lights of the night watch. A few heads turn as Alec steps out of the elevator, and the Shadowhunters present immediately drop their activity and stand at attention as he walks to the ops table. Alec swallows around the knot in his throat and nods his thanks.

“We’re all glad you’re okay, sir,” Underhill steps to his side. He still has his Institute insignia pinned to his chest, although he’s switched his formal uniform for his patrol gear.

“So am I,” Alec lets himself smile for a moment, his pride in his people dissipating the crawling under his skin. “I’ll do an official briefing later, but thank you.”

Underhill puffs his chest, just a little, as he nods. Sandra smiles at Alec from her computer station. Alec can see Kara fidget impatiently on the threshold of the training area, like she’s keeping herself from coming over.

“Report,” he orders Underhill.

“The patrols have gone out as usual. Everything’s quiet on the Downworld side. The werewolves and vampires helped us catch up the work that was delayed, and we haven’t heard anything from the Seelies. Isabelle handled the Clave with Aline Penhallow, so you should talk to her. Jens is in his office dealing with the paperwork.”

“Thank you,” Alec nods. “Call me if there’s anything unusual. Jonathan Morgenstern is still out there somewhere, and we don’t know what he’ll do now that his father’s dead.”

“Yes, sir.”

In a rare show of comradery, Alec clasps Underhill’s shoulder as he moves past him toward the training area. Kara stands at attention as he approaches, but she breaks protocol as soon as he’s close enough and runs up to hug him. Alec grunts and hugs her back, suddenly remembering just how young she is.

“Hey,” he pushes her back gently. “Everything’s okay.”

“I was so scared,” Kara murmurs. She’s just tall enough to look Alec in the eye with her arms still around him, and he can see the dark circles under her eyes.

“It’s over,” Alec breathes, taking her by the shoulders.

“Dad called,” Kara says. Alec winces. Her father is the Head of the Prague Institute, and he’s never good news.

“What did he say?” he asks.

“That he was sending someone from the Clave to bring me back. I told him the Clave isn’t welcome here anymore. He was so livid he forgot to misgender me.”

Alec chuckles weakly, making a mental note to deal with that issue later, along with a quick prayer to the Angel that Milan Svec doesn’t end up on his jury. “You’re not going anywhere,” he says. “He can’t touch you anymore. I’m so proud of you, you know that?”

“Thank you,” Kara whispers. “I’m really glad you’re not dead.”

Alec snorts. “Yeah, so am I. Now, I’ve got a lot of things to do, but you know where to find me if you need to.”

Kara immediately takes a step back and shifts into parade rest. “Yes, sir.”

“Do you know where Izzy is?”

“In your office, I think,” Kara replies.

Alec’s entire body is aching, more and more with each step. It’s the aftershock of all the tension and pushing his body past its limits, not the kind of hurt an iratze can heal. He walks stiffly up to his office and doesn’t bother knocking – it’s his office, after all.

Izzy is sitting at his desk, with Aline looking over her shoulder at her tablet. Clary and Jace are sitting together on the couch, looking about as exhausted as Alec feels.

“Alec!” Izzy exclaims as she looks up.

“Hey,” Alec leans against the door frame. “Give me an update?”

Izzy shakes her head. “No need, Jens and I handled everything urgent. Aline is doing the liaison with the Clave. There’s a bunch of paperwork that need your signature, but it can wait. You deserve to rest. How’s Magnus?”

“Asleep,” Alec shrugs. “How are you guys doing?”

He looks to Clary especially, who gives a small shrug. “Tired,” she says. “Gonna need a minute to process. The Downworlders are celebrating at the Hunter’s Moon tomorrow night.”

“I think we’re all going to need time,” Alec smiles sadly. “But he was your father.”

“And the Clave almost had you executed,” Clary shoots back gently.

“How are _you_ , Alec?” Izzy asks.

Alec almost says _Fine_ automatically, but Jace shoots him a look. Right. He can probably feel Alec’s exhaustion, the persistent feeling of unbalance. His dread that Magnus will leave again, now that it’s over. His pride in his people warring with self-disgust. “I don’t know,” he admits instead. “Alive?”

He didn’t mean to phrase it as a question, but Izzy gives him a knowing look. “I better hope so, since we stayed up all night to keep you that way,” she jokes. “Have you talked to Magnus at all?”

Alec shakes his head. “We just slept.”

“He didn’t want to leave,” Clary says. “We had to stop Valentine, but he didn’t want to leave you.”

Alec thinks he should be more emotional about that than he is. It slides over him like water, like he can’t even comprehend it. He sat in his cell all night, waiting for his own execution, while Magnus was out there killing Valentine and saving them all. Alec’s sacrifice was useless in the end, trying to gain them time that they didn’t have anyway, holding on to his own ideals like getting killed for them was going to get anything accomplished. He’s useless.

Izzy and Jace should have been out there too, helping, not here trying to save him.

The burning sensation is almost distinct this time, licking his legs and his arms, and Alec swallows back nausea. “Tell me,” he asks Clary. “I want to know what happened.”

He drops into an armchair and she tells him, slowly. How they found Malachi and his goons camping in the Brocelind forest and stalked them out under one of Magnus’ glamours until they could drop them one by one. How Malachi got under Magnus’ guard and stabbed him, forcing Clary to kill him while Magnus spent too much of his magic healing himself. How they spent hours playing a game of cat and mouse with Valentine, getting more and more desperate, until Valentine reached Lake Lyn and raised the Angel. How Magnus fought Valentine while Clary begged with Raziel to stop the Wish. How Valentine had grabbed Clary from behind as she was talking to the Angel, ready to slash her throat, when Magnus finally got the jump on him. How they both had to wait shivering and exhausted beside the body for the Council guards to show up, and watched the time Alec was set to be executed get closer.

How Magnus fought tooth and nails to be allowed to portal back to the Institute, and fell apart when they both thought it was too late.

Alec closes his eyes tightly as he listens to the end of the story.

“Whatever happened between you two, he loves you, Alec,” Clary finishes. “You should give him a chance.”

A year ago, Alec would have snapped at her for the unsolicited advice. Now he just sighs. “I just hope he gives _me_ one,” he says. “Thanks for telling me. And thank you for all you did out there. Thank you all,” he waves to include his siblings and Aline.

“The Clave will never apologize officially, but Mom said she’s sorry for not seeing Malachi for who he was,” Aline says. “He did a lot of damage.”

“Yeah. I think we have a lot of healing to do,” Alec reflects. Aline nods gravely. “I’m going to get back to Magnus,” Alec stands back up. “He’ll probably wake up soon.”

Before he can leave the office, he finds himself with an armful of Izzy. She hugs him with the tightness of repressed fear. Jace joins them a second later, cupping the back of Alec’s neck. Alec’s skin feels too tight, too small for his body, and the burning intensifies.

“I’m okay,” he murmurs. “It’s over.”

“I love you,” Izzy says in his chest. “Please don’t scare us like that again.”

“I’ll try,” Alec chuckles.

“Go get your man,” Izzy adds.

Alec’s stomach drops, but he does his best not to show it. He gently untangles himself from his siblings and nods at Clary and Aline before walking out, his feet as heavy as lead.

Magnus is sitting on his bed when he gets back to his bedroom, staring at nothing. He looks up when Alec closes the door behind him. “Alexander,” he murmurs.

Alec hesitates and sits down beside him on the bed, just far enough that they’re not actually touching. The gap feels like a schism between them, sore and wide.

Alec smells ash.

“I want to...thank you,” Alec starts unevenly, not quite formal but not his usual self around Magnus, unable to position himself. He fidgets with the corner of the blanket, looking down at his lap. “You did a lot of things in the past few days that you shouldn’t have had to do.”

“Like almost getting you executed?” Magnus asks, a bitter edge to his voice.

That pulls Alec out of his confusion, and straight into shock. “What?” How can Magnus possibly blame himself for that?

“Alec, the entire reason you got convicted is your association with me. With a Downworlder. And your siblings told me that Imogen gave you a chance to save yourself by renouncing me.”

Alec closes his eyes tightly and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Magnus,” he mutters.

He pauses for a moment, trying to get his thoughts into some semblance of order. He’s too weary, too out-of-sorts to be eloquent. When he looks up, Magnus is staring at him intensely, his gaze full of guilt. “This was the Clave’s fault. It was Imogen’s fault. It was Valentine’s fault. It was _not_ , in any way or form, your fault.”

“I accepted the Seelie Queen’s deal. I treated you like shit in that meeting. I came up with the idea to put up wards around the city.”

“And we’ll have to talk about all this,” Alec says. “We will. Or at least, I hope we will. But what happened here isn’t on you, Magnus. The Clave is close-minded and power-hungry and they hate Downworlders. I am done renouncing what I care about to bow to their whims. This was about me. Not about you.”

Magnus stares at him for a while longer, then he nods abruptly. “You hope we’ll talk?” he quotes.

Alec looks down at his hands again. “I hope you’ll stick around long enough.”

“I can’t do a single thing without thinking about you,” Magnus admits.

Alec makes a frustrated gesture. “Me neither. But maybe that’s the problem. I’m standing between you and the good of your people.”

“No, Alexander.” Magnus’ hand lands on Alec’s arm, and he looks up in surprise. “I was wrong. I thought I had to choose, but I didn’t. I couldn’t see that you’ve become too important to me to give up.”

Alec sighs. He wishes those words brought him pleasure, or even hope, but he just feels tired. “So what do we do?”

“We keep talking,” Magnus says softly. “We find compromises. We work for it. If that’s what you want.”

“I want you,” Alec murmurs. “I want whatever you’ll give me.”

Magnus sighs in frustration. “But it doesn’t work like that. We can’t keep sacrificing parts of ourselves for the sake of the other.”

“So what?”

“I want you to tell me how you really feel. Not what you think I need to hear. We left too much unsaid, and I think that’s what really drove us apart.”

Alec takes a breath. “I’m sorry. For not telling you right away about the Soul Sword. I swear I was going to, but I got...stuck in my head, I guess. I froze. But it wasn’t about not trusting you.”

“I know,” Magnus murmurs. “Once my anger calmed, I figured it out. I was so scared about the gap that was opening between our two worlds that I never stopped to put myself in your shoes. I’m sorry, too, for how I treated you.”

Alec wants to say that it’s okay, that it was nothing more than he deserved, but he stops himself. It’s not true. Magnus’ behavior at the Cabinet meeting hurt him, deeply. And maybe going all in means not putting himself down to lift others up.

“Thank you,” he says instead.

Magnus hesitantly bumps his shoulder with Alec’s, scooting closer. Alec automatically slides his hand behind Magnus’ back. It feels good, to be this close to Magnus again. He hadn’t realized just how cold the night in the cell made him feel, or the five nights before it that they spent apart. It’s like something inside him unfreezes.

The warmth leaves more space for the fire in his mind’s eye, and he shudders.

“Tell me how you feel, Alec,” Magnus whispers. “You don’t have to be okay all the time.”

Alec chokes on his breath. “It’s just so much at once,” he half-sobs. “Max, you, the trial… I can’t—I can’t—”

Magnus gently gathers him in his arms as he finally loses his battle against the tears. “I’m here,” he murmurs. “It’s over.”

Alec leans into his embrace, helplessly hiccuping and trying to catch his breath. “I’m sorry,” he mutters between two shaky inhales.

“Don’t be. You need to let it out.”

Magnus holds him until Alec’s breathing finally evens, and his skin no longer feels like it’s burning.

“Alexander,” he whispers, running circles into Alec’s back. “When we were stuck in Idris and I thought we’d be getting back too late…I couldn’t stand the thought of losing you. It was unbearable.”

Alec leans his head on Magnus’ shoulder, breathing in his skin, the wonderful _presence_ of Magnus that soothes an ache inside him. “I can’t lose you either,” he murmurs. “That’s how I felt, when Valentine activated the Soul Sword. That’s why learning that he still had it terrified me so much.”

Magnus sighs softly and intertwines their hands. “I love you too much to let you go. I was a fool to think that I could.”

“You’re not a fool. You were right to be angry. I can’t promise you to always know how to express myself, or to handle the political side of us seamlessly, but I want to do better.”

Magnus shakes his head, his cheek brushing against Alec’s hair. “We’ll try to do better together.”

“Okay,” Alec breathes.

*

“I have to admit that I didn’t understand everything that transpired this morning,” Magnus says half an hour later. They’re still sitting in the same position, leaning into each other, a little stunned. They’ve each been lost in their own thoughts. “But you all seemed relieved, so I take it you’re off the hook?”

“Not entirely,” Alec shrugs, shifting to look at Magnus’ profile, “but I’ll get a proper trial, and it will be a Peer trial. It means a jury made of other Institute Heads,” he explains at Magnus’ confusion. “Most of the charges will be easy to dismiss with actual witnesses, and the one that actually triggered it is rendered null by the fact that the Clave won’t take you and the other warlocks to court.”

“The one about you allying with us,” Magnus states flatly.

“Yes. Once that is dropped, what’s left is minor infractions and things that happened while I wasn’t even the Head. And with what happened today, the other Heads will value the loyalty the Institute showed me over the mistakes I made. That’s why a Peer trial is better than a Clave trial.”

“I see,” Magnus says slowly. “So, you’re saved, Valentine is dead, but we’re going back to the status quo as far as the Clave is concerned? Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy you’re not dead,” he adds hurriedly.

Alec waves it away. “I know you’re not thrilled with the status quo, and neither am I. But Jia is the most likely to be elected Consul, and she’s fairly progressive. It won’t happen in a day, but I think we can bring about real change, with what we’re doing here with the Cabinet.”

“The way she just...dismissed us, like she’s doing us a favor by not pressing charges—” Magnus shudders.

Alec sighs. “I get it. It was patronizing, and plain oppressive. I’m sorry, Magnus, I wish things weren’t like that, but—” He interrupts himself, biting his lip.

“But what?”

“It’s better than war?” Alec offers. “Those wards...it was a huge breach of the Accords. If they did press charges, you would all be executed.”

“The Clave was ready to let us be exterminated!” Magnus protests. “We had to protect ourselves. The only people who were killed were Circle members trying to flee.”

“I know, Magnus,” Alec sighs. “I know, okay? I know that I’ll never fully understand what your people go through, and I respect that. Or I try to.” He hesitates.

“But you almost got executed for it,” Magnus tries to guess.

Alec shakes his head. “It’s not about me,” he murmurs. “When Luke called Clary to warn us about the wards, just before Imogen arrested me, I had a team on its way to Newark to check on a demon sighting. They were seconds away from the city limit when we managed to reach them. Kara was one of them.”

Magnus’ eyes widen in horror. “Fuck. I never meant to—”

“I know you didn’t,” Alec stops him. “And I know it doesn’t compare to the almost-genocide of your people. I guess what I’m saying is that a lot of deaths were barely averted. So maybe we can just take the win for now?”

Magnus doesn’t respond immediately. Alec fidgets with his sleeve, worried that he’s made things worse. Their fighting started because he couldn’t find the right way to talk to Magnus about these issues. Is he just repeating the same mistakes?

“Jonathan is still out there,” he rambles. “The whole Clave will have to be reorganized, there will be so many investigations. Something needs to be done about the Seelie Queen. Then there will be my trial, and the reintegration of the Institute… I can’t, I can’t—” Alec chokes on his breath. “I can’t _do_ everything, I can’t _be_ what you want me to be, Magnus, I’m not—I’m not _enough._ ”

With a groan of frustration, he curls in on himself, his throat too tight to let out any more words.

“Alec,” Magnus slides off the bed to kneel in front of him, forcing Alec to face him. “You are enough. You’re always enough. I’m not asking you to be anything but yourself. I’m angry at the Clave, but it doesn’t mean I’m angry at _you._ ”

Alec shakily straightens and meets Magnus’ eyes. “I know,” he murmurs. “I—I have a hard time separating _me_ from them sometimes. But I know.” The last thing he needs to do is put the weight of his oppressor’s guilt on Magnus’ shoulders. This is something he needs to deal with himself. Magnus has enough to do with how he and his people are treated by Alec’s people.

“Alright,” Magnus strokes his arm. “You’re right, even if things aren’t perfect, we should celebrate. Valentine is dead, and you’re alive, so that’s a big win. We’ll pick the fight back up tomorrow.”

Alec attempts a smile that must not be very convincing, because Magnus frowns. “Not the fight between us,” he adds. “The fight for a better world and all that.”

“Yeah,” Alec chuckles. “And all that. Powerful slogan you’ve got there.”

“Hey, I got about seven hours of sleep in the last seventy-two hours,” Magnus defends himself. “I’ll come up with something better once we’ve actually rested.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Speaking of resting, what do you say to another few hours of sleep?” Magnus asks. “We can even go to the loft if you want. The bed is larger.”

“I need to stay in the Institute,” Alec shrugs apologetically. “The Separation makes me master and commander, so I need to be here if something happens.”

“You intend to stay here until the Clave’s up and running again?”

“I don’t know,” Alec sighs. “At least until things settle a bit. I’m sorry. If you’d rather go back home—”

“Right now I want to be where you are,” Magnus says immediately. “I’ll have to go deal with the mess I made at some point, but it can wait. So, sleep?”

“Yeah,” Alec nods a bit reluctantly. He’s still exhausted, but he dreads the nightmares.

“You think you can sleep without bad dreams?” Magnus asks, astute as always.

Alec sighs. “I don’t know. Probably not.”

“What’s bothering you? I mean, what’s the worst of it?”

Alec is no stranger to nightmares or insomnia. Magnus has long gotten used to the nights Alec will spend up on the roof of the loft, training, or the ones when he bites his pillow to muffle the screams. It’s nothing new. Magnus has his own bad nights, and Alec does his best to support him through them.

“It’s like a part of me is still there waiting for that rune to ignite,” Alec admits. He flexes his hands, staring at them as if it could stop the flames he can feel licking at them. “I know it’s over, but—”

“But brains don’t work like that,” Magnus finishes for him. “Would it make you feel better to destroy the rune in the courtyard?”

“Maybe,” Alec mutters. “I think I’ll do that anyway. I don’t want that thing in my Institute any longer.”

“Now? Or in the morning?”

“In the morning,” Alec decides. “Tonight...just hold me?”

“I can do that,” Magnus smiles.

His smile, as tired as it is, lights up the room. It doesn’t calm the fire, or make the pain go away, or lessen the heaviness of the world, but it makes tomorrow look a little less daunting.

Healing will come, with time. Tonight, they can sleep knowing that whatever is coming, they’ll meet it together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end!
> 
> This is the first SH multichapter I finished, and I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for reading, and special thanks to everyone who left comments and kudos, every single one of them is hugely appreciated.
> 
> You can find me on [Tumblr](https://echo-bleu.tumblr.com/) (new link) and if you want to join a multifandom discord server with a lot of Shadowhunters talk, I am very often on the [Fandom Playhouse](https://discord.gg/qSWVJfBf)!

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos make my day! I'd love to hear your thoughts. I'm also on Tumblr if you want to chat.


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